Taxonomic revision of the genus Smilax (Smilacaceae) in Central America and the Caribbean Islands

Abstract

Smilax is a poorly understood genus, as the lack of agreement among the taxonomic treatments shows. Twenty-nine species of Smilax are recognised for central america and the caribbean region as the result of this study, much less than the total of c. 120 species described. Among the reasons leading to the recognition of an excessive number of species are a marked phenotypic variation, sexual dimorphism and the common occurrence of morphological inter- mediates. The treatment includes separate keys for the identification of flowering and fruiting material, synonymies with altogether 36 lectotypes and 5 neotypes designated here, one new combination published (Smilax compta), de- scriptions, drawings of 11 species, taxonomic notes, distribution maps and distributional data (including also the distribution area of the treated species beyond the actual study area) as well as common names and uses where known.